Hopelessly
by Cranberriez
Summary: A Matthew Bellamy story! I hope you can get your head around all the time changes, it should make sense if you read it carefully enough. It was originally going to be one whole story but in the end it was far too long so I had to split it into 5! Enjoy xx
1. Part 1

_Did that just happen?___

My back thudded against the wall as I leaned back. Seems like my feet were further away from it than I'd thought. But that thought quickly left my mind as what had just happened flooded back over me, and I slid down the wall in absolute shock. _Thud_. My bum hit the floor, rather hard, and once I'd stopped myself from toppling over I looked down the corridor to check that no-one had seen.  
"Graceful."  
Oh shit. I'd forgotten to look the other way. Dom came over and sat down- rather _more_ gracefully- next to me. He threw an arm round my shoulders and pulled me close. I felt better.  
"You okay?" He said. I shook my head. I didn't think I was capable of proper speech at the moment. Dom's brow furrowed as I revealed that I was indeed _not_ okay, and he asked the inevitable.  
"What's wrong?"  
I turned away, not able to answer, so he took different tactics.  
"Claire, you know I love you?" He said, and I nodded.  
"And you know how I'd tell you _anything_ at all, because of how _much_ I love you?" He grinned as he saw me realise where he was going.  
"Aaand... do you love me?" I groaned and buried my face in his neck, but he saw my smile.  
"Well?" He said, with a fake pout on. I nodded into his neck.  
"Y'think you... could return that favour of telling me anything? Seeing as how much you love me?" He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear as I looked up at him.  
"Dom, I..."  
"Claire, come on. If you don't tell me, it's not likely we're going to get this sorted, is it? And also, it tells me you don't love me as much as I thought you did, and we can't have that, now can we?"  
I gave up. He was too good.  
"Okay... Well, Matt-"  
"Y'know, somehow I _knew_ this had something to do with Matthew." Dom looked annoyed so I spoke quickly.  
"Matt... p-" I stopped. This was proving to be harder than I thought, just to say the words. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and almost forced the words out."Matt proposed."  
"_What?_"

***15 minutes ago*******

"Claire?" I heard it from across the room, even though it came from about ten metres away, with people chatting inbetween. The voice I had been longing to hear for almost three weeks now. The voice I would always recognise instantly. The voice of Matthew Bellamy.  
"Yes?" Neither of us raised our voices above normal speaking level, but we didn't have to. By now, we only had ears for eachother.  
"Come here." He got up and walked out of the room, and I followed him, almost without thinking. He turned into one of the side-rooms and held the door open for me before walking across the room. And even that small act had my heart racing. He was as far away from me as he could possibly get, and he hadn't looked at me once- he was even facing the wall.  
"I need to talk to you."  
"You do, don't you."  
"Don't turn this into another argument." He said, turning round. I hated the fact that he hadn't asked me, he'd _commanded_ me. I hated the fact that I hated him for it. I hated the fact that I still loved him, even after all this, and I hated that he'd ignored me all this time. And I hated that it feltlike it wascompletely my fault.  
God, my feelings were fucked up.

****3 weeks ago********

"Matt? Where are you, I'm back!" I called up the stairs, with the Chinese takeaway bag still in my hand. I expected to hear thundering footsteps as my little friend raced down the stairs to get his hands on some food- but the usual wasn't going to happen today, apparently.  
So I kicked off my converse and padded into the living room, slumping down on the sofa that Dom was sat on. I expected a reaction, of course, but not the one he gave me then. He was looking out of the window, but when I sat down he turned round to look at me. He didn't say a word, but his expression seemed so pained that I immediately asked the worst thing I could've.  
"Dom? What's the matter?"  
He went back to looking out of the window, and no answer was given.  
"D'you... d'you want some food?" I said, weakly indicating the slowly cooling plastic bag I'd dumped on the floor. He shook his head.  
A couple of awkward seconds went past in silence, before my mind wandered back to the other person in the house.  
"Where's Matt? Why isn't he coming down?"  
I immediately knew I was on to the right track, because Dom's shoulders tensed and I could almost see him wince through the back of his head.  
"Dom. What's happened? Has Matt said something..."  
"No. You have no _idea_ what he's done. And before you ask, it has nothing to do with me, and I'm not going to tell you what happened. I can't. You'll have to find out." He got up. "I'm sorry about the food... um... maybe keep it in the fridge or something?" He scratched the back of his neck in his annoyance at the waste of the food, for I could see now that he intended to leave. He looked at me, his eyes full of pity and sorrow, said one last "I'm sorry..." in which his voice cracked, and left.  
I knew something serious was going on.  
The moment I heard the door slam, I heard a very _different_ noise from above me. A loud _shhhh! _sound, followed by a giggle- a female giggle. Dom's obvious upset had made me suspicious about Matt, and now my fears were _almost_ confirmed. But why would Dom be so upset about Matt and _her_ upstairs, whoever she was? We would normally just have got on with eating the food, making stupid jokes about how Matt's was going cold but he probably wouldn't mind right now, and maybe Dom would notice that I was feeling a little jealous. But I hadn't expected such a big reaction, so I knew there was something else going on.  
I tiptoed up the stairs, and the noises got worse. I _really_ hoped I wouldn't walk in on anything obscene, but I had to find out why Dom was so upset. I placed my hand on the door handle and silently, slowly turned it. There was no reaction, no sudden silence, so I suspected they were too busy to notice that someone had turned the door handle. I opened the door a crack and peeped in, but when I saw who it was my secrecy was forgotten and I let the door swing open as I gasped.  
"Deanna?"

*****4 months ago*********

I jumped a mile as my bedroom door slammed open and Matt walked in.  
"Hug. Now." He squeaked, and joined me on my bed, where I had been _trying_ to read. I quickly marked the page and took him into my arms, and his weight forced me to lean back against the wall as he was making no attempt to keep himself upright.  
"I feel like shit." He said quietly into my shoulder, and I held him tighter.  
"You feel like shit? Why?" I said softly into his hair, but he just grunted in reply, which led me nowhere.  
Soon, after about a minute, I felt the unmistakeable jolts run through his body and I knew he was crying.  
"Oh, Matt hon, what on earth's the matter?" I tried to pull back so I could look at his face, but he held on to me and I sighed, wondering what had got him into this state.  
Two minutes passed, and I held him, comforting him as best I could without words. Then, still sobbing, he pulled his head back slightly and looked up at me. I wiped the most recent tears away from his warm cheeks and his eyes flicked back downwards at the contact.  
"S-she doesn't love... love me. She t-told me so." He murmured, and I rubbed his back, trying to get him to calm down so he could speak a little more clearly.  
"Who doesn't love you, Matt?"  
"D... Deanna." He shut his eyes as he spoke the name of his steady, four months running girlfriend.  
"Nonsense. Of course she loves you, Matt..."  
"Did you _listen_? She _told_ me she doesn't love me! She _told_ me she's been leading me on this whole time! She even introduced me to her fucking husband!" Matt almost screamed the words as I stared at him, shocked out of my life.  
"Matt..." That was all I could say. He looked at me again, but when he realised I had nothing else to say he collapsed into my shoulder again, sobbing uncontrollably.  
It went on like that for at least another two weeks, Matt just breaking out into tears at random points in the day, until me and Dom sat him down and properly talked to him about it. I think it helped a bit, but he was still cold and not himself for the rest of the month, and it was only during the second month that he began to be himself again. And it was the full two months before he could actually laugh at what had happened, and 'see it on the bright side', as he used to say.


	2. Part 2

******4 months later********  
**  
_...but when I saw who it was my secrecy was forgotten and I let the door swing open as I gasped.__  
__"Deanna?"_  
I stood, framed in the doorway, as Matt and Deanna stopped kissing and stared guiltily at me. I was glad they were still both fully clothed, in the least.  
"What the _hell_...?" I couldn't form a proper thought, let alone a sentance.  
"Claire... um, she..." Matt was trying to get over the awkwardness of the situation but I could see he was finding it hard. "She... got a divorce, and-" he continued, but Deanna butted in.  
"Listen honey, I love this man, okay? I divorced my husband and came back to him- cause _he's_ the one I want, really. Isn't that right, sweetheart?" She stroked Matt's face and he looked adoringly up at her.  
It was sickening.  
"Matt, think about this. You're ready to accept her back into your life just because she tells you she got a divorce and she still loves you? Use your common sense." I was getting really angry now, angry at the way she spoke, the way she looked, _the way her fingers ran through his hair...__  
_"He _has_ used his common sense, and he knows where his heart lies. There's no use in getting jealous, honey." Deanna said.  
"Will you stop calling me honey, please? It's making me feel sick. And will you stop answering for him. He has his own mind." _Which is considerably larger than yours, bitch.__  
_  
"Well, go barf somewhere else, 'cos I'm not going anywhere. _Honey."_ She fake-smlied at me and I would've seriously walked right over and punched her in the face if Matt hadnt've spoken.  
"Claire. I know what I'm doing. I appreciate that you're trying to... be nice, but I don't need your help. Like you said, I've got my own mind, and... it's made up. I love her, Claire." He said, without even looking at me once. No, he only had eyes for _Deanna_...  
"Matt..." The whispered word fell out of my mouth. It felt like he'd slapped me round the face. He'd been so patronising, so abrupt, and he didn't even have the kindness of heart to take what I was saying into consideration.  
He finally looked at me then, and my heart stopped. His gaze was filled with apology, but overriding it was the solid conviction that confirmed my worst fears- he _was_ in love with her.  
That was all too much for me, and I simply ran away.  
**  
*********That week*******

The following week was hell. Seeing as I basically lived in Matt's house, and he in mine, we were always in each-other's company. I mean, normally that'd be fine, but now Matt had a compulsary tag-along wherever he went, and I despised her.  
I despised what she'd _done_ to him, before she'd come back, with the whole _oh by the way, I have a husband_ thing, and after. She'd turned him into a kind of love-sick puppy, wheras before she had just been like a normal girlfriend, I'd only met her once or twice, and Matt had been able to be himself when she wasn't there. But now I felt like I was losing the old Matt, to make way for a new one which I hated.  
So, to get back, I threw in insults whenever I could. Dom, as well. We were both sick to death of her and we made as many snide comments about her as we could think of. And she did it back, twice as bad- but only to me. Which made it worse. It was because she must've had a crush on Dom or something, she was always flirting with him and it annoyed him to _pieces._ But because of that, all her insults were directed strongly at me, and it made my world a living hell.

There were moments when I got a hint of the old Matt, and those were usually when the conversation topic got on to music. I savoured those moments, because even though Deanna was always there, she hadn't got a clue about anything remotely musical, and so Matt, Dom and I could have an entire conversation without her understanding in the slightest.

On one of these occasions, Matt was sitting at his piano, trying desperately to sight-read a piece by Tchaikovsky. He'd ordered me to be page-turner, but to be honest he was playing it at such a slow pace to get all the notes right that he might as well have done it himself.

"No, Matt that's a B…" I pointed to a note on the bass clef.

He looked at it, tried to fit it in with all the other notes he was playing, and totally lost the melody in the process. He threw his head back in frustration, with an outburst of "_I can't fucking sight-read!"__  
_I smiled, that sentence was quite an often occurrence when Matt was attempting a difficult piece. "You poor ferret, you'll get it eventually…" I called him by the nickname he hated so much, in an attempt to try and get the old Matt back a little more.

"Don't call me that, I do _not_ look like a ferret."

"Of course you don't, sweetie-" Deanna said from her place in the corner, but Dom interrupted.

"You really do, mate." He offered Matt a crisp but was immediately rejected. "Fine, more for me…" He muttered to himself as he leaned back in his chair.

Matt, meanwhile, was sitting staring at me, his finger and thumb worrying at his bottom lip.

"Hello? Can I be of assistance?" I said to him, but he seemed to have drifted off into his own little world.

"Earth to Matthew?" I clicked my fingers in front of his face, but his gaze didn't move.

"I think we've lost him to… _the land of Bellamy…_" Dom said, straight-faced. Matt immediately came out of his trance as Dom brought back one of Matt's most hated sayings- 'we've lost him to the land of Bellamy.'

"Will you please be kind and _fuck off?_" He turned back to the piano music, furiously ignoring Dom and I trying not to laugh.

It was mine and Dom's theory that the land of Bellamy was a place of no return, and so whenever Matt went into one of his little trances we always said it so that he'd come back to us. Over time it had become a subject of loathing for Matt, even more than the nickname of 'ferret'. But I was glad that Dom had brought it up again, because it reminded me of the old days, before Deanna had ever come into our lives.

And I think that, somewhere deep inside, it had reminded Matt too.


	3. Part 3

I was out in the hallway, a week after Deanna had come back and taken Matt away from me. I'd had enough of her being all lovey-dovey with my best friend, and I'd had to leave the room. Seems like Dom'd had enough, too.  
"My god, she is the absolute _limit_."  
"_Over_ the limit." I agreed.  
"Claire, we _have_ to get rid of her. She's ruining our lives. Especially Matt's."  
"I know, but how? He really is in love with her, and we can't get rid of her without hurting him too..."  
"Well... I have a suspicion that she isn't as faithful as she pretends to be." Dom said, giving me a wink.  
"What do you mean..." I said slowly, not daring to get too hopeful.  
"Well, you know how she's always flirting with me? She wanted to... erm... swap phones the other day- as you do..." He cleared his throat, going a bit red.  
"Dom, I get that it was her idea, not yours. Go on..."  
"Well, she has _at least_ twenty male names in her address book, and I think that's too big a number for it just to be family. And, erm, on some of them there were these little heart things... God, I don't understand girls sometimes..."  
I put a comforting hand on his arm. "Don't worry Dom. You never will, but you're not alone. There's plenty other men out there. So... back to the subject... you think we can catch her out?"  
"I know it. But we can't make it obvious, though..."  
"Yeah,it'll be hard trying to make it look like an accident... look Dom, maybe we should just wait for it all to-"  
"No. I am not going to wait, because it won't _sort itself out_, or whatever you were going to say. I am going to get my best friend back, without the extra. And _you_ are going to get your dream man." He winked at me again.  
"What... on earth can you mean...?" I pretended to have no idea what he was on about.  
"Oh come on, it's not like I haven't noticed. You're obsessed, girl. Since before Deanna came along, anyway, so you have a rightful claim on Mr. Bellamy."  
"Dom, shut up. He can choose whoever he wants, and it's not going to be me."  
"Pfft, yeah right. But I'll deal with that later..." He gave me a smile that got me rather scared about his intentions of 'dealing with it'. "Back to the task in hand. I shall try to steal her phone, and we shall raid her inbox. Agreed? Agreed. Right. Let's go." And with that, he raced back off into the living room, leaving me feeling as though my mind had been completely stripped down and analysed.  
**  
**********2 minutes and a lot of flirting later********

"Ta-daaa!" I was presented with a whispered fanfare and a pink mobile phone as Dom tip-toed into the kitchen, his hair looking distinctively ruffled. "Matt didn't look too happy at my almost obscene flirting, but there ya go. I must be _very_ seductive." He accompanied that remark with a very obvious wink, and I rolled my eyes, acting the adult. But I couldn't help the small smile that appeared on my face as I turned away.  
I quickly found the inbox, and I was surprised to see there was no password holding the information back. I scrolled quickly down the list of texts, and among all the ones titled 'Matty-watty', there were quite a few titled 'Harry'. And from what some of these texts said, I could be certain that Harry wasn't a relative.  
The most recent one read: _I'll pick you up on Meadow Close at 5pm honey, in the red car. love you gorgeous__  
_  
"Dom, I think we have a winner. This one was sent today." I showed him the text, and he grinned as he realised how easy this could be.  
"Buuuut… how're we gonna get Matt to realise without making it obvious we've set it up?" His grin quickly turned into a frown.

"Well… it's 10 to 5 now, so she'll want to go soon… maybe we could, um, pressure him into walking her home? And then she couldn't refuse without him smelling something fishy, and if he does go with her he'll see this guy, and- there you have it." Wow. I never knew I was that clever!

"That's pretty brilliant actually, Claire." Dom thought it over, and it looked like it seemed sound to him. "Well, lets go and- what was it? _Pressure_ young Matticus into walking his 'princess' home, shall we?"

"Here goes…" I muttered to myself as he took my arm and steered me back into the living room. We hadn't planned any kind of script as there wasn't enough time- I guess we were going to have to improvise.

We sat down on the opposite sofa from Matt and Deanna after noisily interrupting their disgusting-looking make out session.

"God, it's cold today, huh?" Dom said, shivering. It was a sunny day, so what he was saying and doing was ridiculous, but Deanna fell for it.

"Yeah…" she simpered, snuggling closer to Matt. I actually couldn't look. But then everything was silent, and I could feel Dom silently begging me to say _something_, so I looked around the room in the hope of inspiration. And then my eyes met Matt's. He had his arm round Deanna and was pulling her close to him, but he was staring directly at me, and even when I was looking straight back at him he didn't look away. I couldn't read his expression at _all_, but something told me that he wasn't happy, either because he'd worked out mine and Dom's plan, or something else…

I looked into his eyes for a long time, and it seemed as if the two minutes we stared at each other were actually hours of silent conversation between our minds, finding out each other's thoughts and feelings just from our steady gaze. Before that moment, I _had_ felt jealousy of Deanna, wanted to get Matt away from her and back to me, but in a friendly sense. I mean yes, I'd fancied him for a while, but when you've known someone for as long as I'd known Matt you get over things like that, and I accepted that he'd never be more than a friend, and I was happy with it. But the arrival of Deanna seemed to have triggered off some of the old emotions again, and I'd begun to see everything Matt did in a new light, and it'd been obvious, because Dom had realised. But I never thought Matt had caught on, until that moment when we stared into each other's eyes. Because it was then that he told me 'I know'. Just with his eyes. And it felt like he'd always known. But the frustrating thing was, I couldn't tell what _he_ thought about it- if he felt the same way back, if he…  
But I knew one thing for sure. That short amount of time, only two minutes or so, when we gazed at each other was a monumental moment in my life. Because it was then that I completely fell in love with Matthew Bellamy.

"Oh, it's raining." Dom said lightly, and dug his elbow discreetly into my ribs. "Much help you are…" he muttered, but he didn't know what I'd just experienced, so I had an excuse.

"Oh no, that's such a shame- well, I'd better be going anyway." Deanna said, after a quick glance at the clock. It was a couple of minutes past 5.

"Do you have an umbrella or anything? I mean, it looks pretty heavy…" I chipped in, indicating the rain. Now Dom couldn't accuse me of being _no_ help.

"Oh, no I don't, but I'll be fine…" she seemed in a bit of a rush.

"Let me walk down with you, we'll take my umbrella, and I'll carry it back." Matt said as she walked briskly into the hall. "Dee?" He said after she didn't answer.

"No. I'm only walking round the corner, anyway…"

"Dee, what's up? You sound like you're gonna be late for something- let me drive you there instead of you walking home in this…" He joined her in the hall.

"_No_ Matt, I've _got_ a lif- I mean, I'm driving home anyway."

By this time Dom and I were watching the scene unfold from the living room door, and I could see that Matt wasn't sure. 'He's not stupid…' I thought to myself, willing him silently to insist on walking her to her car.

"Well at least let me walk you to your car-"

"Will you stop being so _clingy_!" She raised her voice and tried to get the front door open, but Matt quickly stepped round and held it in place.

"I'm being _worried_, not clingy. Please just let me walk with you, I want to know what's wrong!" He'd worked out there was something up, but he hadn't got it yet. Dom and I were literally screaming at him inside our heads. _'WORK IT OUT! SHE'S CHEATING ON YOU!'_

"Well… okay then. Umm… yeah." She looked so shifty it was begging to be noticed. Matt just looked really happy at the fact she'd said yes, and no suspicion was on any part of his face. I rolled my eyes at Dom.

"Well… what's she going to do now?" Dom said to me as Matt closed the door behind him and Deanna.

"Go home, I guess… what a bloody waste of time." I slumped back on to the sofa, and he joined me.

"Yeah. I suppose we'll just have to show him the texts and deal with his anger at us… but then again if he was being himself he would've worked it out _way_ back. It's just cos of what she's done to him, he'll believe anything she says." He said, and I had to agree.

*********5 minutes later*********

The front door opened and closed, and Dom and I both jumped out of our seats. We both knew Deanna lived 10 minutes away, so we hadn't expected Matt for another 15…

He walked into the room.

"That got rid of her." He said, to no-one in particular, and then collapsed on to the sofa with his head in his hands, breathing heavily.

My immediate reaction was to go over and put my arm around his shoulders, but something held me back. After a couple of minutes Matt lowered his hands, and looked straight at me, then Dom, then me again but for longer, then at the floor.

"Thanks for trying to help, but I didn't need it." He smiled, but it was flecked with pain. "I'm not that stupid." He paused, and his eyes closed as he winced at whatever thoughts were running through his mind. "I'm sorry you had to- to put up w-with her-" he shook his head and got up and walked out of the room, pulling the door shut behind him. We heard footsteps on the stairs and then all was silent. I looked at Dom, shocked at what Matt had just told us, and horrified that he'd take as long as last time to get over it all. Seems like Dom was thinking the same thing as he pulled me into a hug and muttered in my ear:

"Here we go again…"


	4. Part 4

**********The next day**********

"Matt? You okay?" I asked as I walked into his bedroom. He was sat on his bed, staring at his interlaced fingers.

"I don't want to talk about it, if you don't mind." He said in an almost cold voice, and just like that, I was dismissed. I walked back out.

***********The next week***********

"Matt, can you pass me that pen please?" I pointed to the pen lying on the table right next to him. He stared at me as if I'd just suggested he should go and shove his head in the microwave, but the he picked up the pen and flicked it at me, making it very obvious he _really _didn't want to do it.

"Thanks…" I muttered as I looked away.

************The next week************

I'd just made a cup of tea and was carrying it into the living room, where I'd booted my laptop up a few minutes ago. I opened the door and Matt was there, on the other sofa. He looked at me for two seconds, then picked up his book and walked out, leaving me on my own.

So he didn't even want to be in the same room as me any more.

*************The next week*************

_"I need to talk to you."__  
__"You do, don't you."__  
__"Don't turn this into another argument." He said, turning round. I hated the fact that he hadn't asked me, he'd commanded me. I hated the fact that I hated him for it. I hated the fact that I still loved him, even after all this, and I hated that he'd ignored me all this time. And I hated that it felt like it was completely my fault.__  
__God, my feelings were fucked up._

I was still wary, so I pretended to still be angry with him. "I'm not. Just say what you wanted to say, and be done with it. I know you don't really feel that comfortable in the same room as m-"

"Hey." He walked over and placed one cold finger over my lips, instantly silencing me. I forgot how to breathe. "Give me a break. I'm sorry for how I've treated you these past weeks. I just…" He couldn't seem to find the words, let out his breath in an exasperated sigh, and walked back over to the other side of the room.

"You've just…?" I prompted him, but there was no reply. "What have I done that's so terrible, Matt?" I tried to look round at his face, but he turned away. "Matt…"

"You… you broke me and Deanna up."

"Matthew Bellamy that is a lie."

"Yes, but it's the best and most valid one I can think of."

His peculiar way of getting out of accusations stumped me like it always does and I couldn't find anything else to say other than the question I'd asked before.

"So… what _have_ I done, then?"

He turned round and looked me in the eye. He took several slow, controlled breaths, never breaking eye contact with me. And when he finally said the words they were so quiet I could hardly believe they'd been said.

"You've… m-made me… You've made me fall in love with you."

He almost forced the words out of his mouth and as soon as they'd been said his eyes started screaming an apology at me.

"Matthew Bellamy that is- a lie…?" I repeated the statement from before, but I was so unsure now that it turned into a question, to which he shook his head, his eyes still repeatedly shouting 'sorry'. And then the apology grew so strong that it escaped from between his lips.

"I'm sor-" But I didn't let it happen.

"You… love me?"

"Yes." He seemed more certain about it now.

"Bollocks."

"No, Claire, I-"

"You expect me to believe _that_ after the three weeks of _nothing_ I've had from you?" My voice was growing hysterical now, partly because I couldn't believe that there might be a chance that he actually _did_ love me, but mostly because I hated the words I was saying, because I had _no idea_ why I was getting so angry at the man I loved. I should be declaring my undying love for _him_, and it would be perfect. But the words just came tumbling out of my mouth and I couldn't stop them, and pretty soon my anger took hold and smothered everything else until all I wanted to do was walk over and punch him in the face.

"Claire, please-"

"You've been absolutely _hostile_ these days, not only are you completely ignoring me but-"

"Claire, just listen-"

"You can't even bear to be in the same _room_ as me, you've just been an absolute bastard and now you want me to accept that you're-"

"_CLAIRE!_" He had to shout to shut me up, and by now he was stood right in front of me, looking absolutely exasperated at my outburst. "Claire. I have one thing to say to you."

"It better not be 'sorry'-"

"No, it isn't. Please, listen to me. I- I want you to marry me. I've been thinking, and it's the only thing I can do. I love you so much and I can't bear just to be a 'boyfriend' " He spoke the word with disgust. "I want to be closer to you than that, I want you to be with me forever- I want you to be my wife." He got down on one knee, taking my hand in both of his; and my heart stopped. "Claire Brocklehurst, will you marry me?" His monologue was over, and he fell silent, looking up at me with absolute desperation and as much love as I've ever seen in someone's eyes before.

I couldn't take it. I got out of there.


	5. Part 5 Finale

**************15 minutes later**************

_"Y'know, somehow I knew this had something to do with Matthew." Dom looked annoyed so I spoke quickly.__  
__"Matt... p-" I stopped. This was proving to be harder than I thought, just to say the words. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and almost forced the words out. "Matt proposed."__  
_"_What?_"

"He asked me to marry him." I knew Dom had understood, but I wanted to say it again, to make it seem more real to myself- I still couldn't quite believe it.

"And… what did you say?" Dom said, and I couldn't tell from his voice what he thought of this yet, apart from that he was _extremely_ surprised.

"I-I ran away…" I said, looking up at him, and he smiled in incredulity.

"My god, Claire… he has the _nerve _to do that after what he's put you through these last three weeks?" He said, and now I could tell that he wasn't happy about this at all.  
"That's what I said, until he… told me he wanted to marry me…" I murmured, re-living the scene in my head.

"Well… what're going to do?"

"I love him, Dom."

"Even after-"

"Yes."

"Claire, I don't know…"

"Dom. I love him." I said, and I was sure of it now. I mean, I'd known it all along, ever since Matt's eyes had met mine that night in our living room, the night he uncovered the secret of Deanna's other boyfriend.

"Properly?"

"Yes!"

"Ok, ok… I just…"

"Dom, I think he hadn't spoken to me for all that time because he hadn't known whether to actually propose or not, and I think it was all a bit much for him."

"But it wasn't just that he wasn't speaking to you, he was giving you _looks_ and saying horrible things behind your back even though he knew you could hear, and…"

"But I think that's so he had an excuse for staying away from me, so he could make his mind up. When I asked him what the matter was he said it was because I'd broken him and Deanna up, and he was upset about that. But I knew that wasn't true, so I think that's what made the decision for him. He didn't look like he'd prepared to propose or anything, I mean there was no ring…"

"Just Matt, making rash decisions, again." Dom finished for me, and for once I didn't contradict him.

"What're you going to do, then?" He said after a pause.

"You've asked me that already."

"But you didn't answer properly."

I sighed. "I'm going to say yes, of course."

"Woah, wait a minute. Have you thought this through?"

"No, but I don't need to."

"Well, why did you- 'run away' as you put it- when he asked you?"

"Because it was too much to bear, thinking that he might actually love me back."

"God girl, you're obsessed." He smiled.

"He's far too good for me, Dom. I don't deserve him."

"Of course you do. You… you're perfect." He said, and I sensed a slight twinge of jealousy in his voice.

"Dom, are _you_ ok about this?"

"It doesn't involve me."

"Not directly, but it might as well, you're so close to us both…"

"I'm fine with it."

"You're not going to get jealous…?"  
"Oh, I'll be jealous alright."  
"What?" His tone of voice confused me.  
"Well, you'll have Matt all to yourself." He pouted, but a grin soon got rid of it.  
"Dom, I didn't mean you'll be jealous of _me_! Unless..."  
"_No_! No, I am perfectly straight, thanks."  
"Not even for Matt..."  
"Nope." He smiled, and it made me smile too. But then all of a sudden we were back on a serious topic.

His smile turned bittersweet. "But I see what you're getting at. And no. I got over loving you a long time ago, when I first realised _you_ were in love with Matt. I'm fine with it." He repeated, and his tone of voice assured me.

"Well… here goes then."

"You're going to find him _now_?"

I got up. "No time like the present…"

"Well… he might be a little upset at the moment- he might have taken your running away as a no…"

"Well I'd better get to him quick then!" I was overly excited about this, and Dom noticed.

"Hey, calm down. Take a deep breath, and don't muck this up."

"I'm not the one proposing…"

"No, but you're about to make his day. Actually, scratch that. Make his _life_." He smiled. "Go get your man, Claire."

"Not without a hug." I smiled sheepishly, and he obliged, squeezing me tightly.

"Thank you so much, Dom, I really love you, y'know…" I said when I pulled back.

"I'm always here for you girlfriend." He winked at me and flashed me my favourite cheesy grin, and I was ready. Ready to say yes to the man of my dreams. Ready to marry Matthew Bellamy.

_****_

_**Epilogue**_

"Matt?"

I'd finally found him, in the studio, hammering away at the piano, eyes squeezed tightly shut. I was going to shout to make him hear me, but he seemed to be in such a different world that I waited for him to finish. When he played the final note of whatever beautiful piece he was bringing to life, he collapsed over the piano without once opening his eyes. His elbows struck random keys as he rested his head on his arms, but when the noise died down I could hear him gently sobbing.

I walked over and sat next to him on the end of the piano stool, and his head jerked up at the disturbance. When he saw it was me he quickly wiped his eyes and sniffed, trying to hide the obvious fact that he'd been crying. He seemed to look up at me, even though he was taller, and he was in such a pitiful state that I couldn't do anything other than take him in my arms.

As soon as his head rested on my shoulder I could feel him begin to cry again, and it brought tears to _my_ eyes as I realised this was all because of _me._

"Matt…"

"I'm sorry…" He sobbed into my shoulder.

"Matt, calm down, it's okay…"

"How is it okay?" He pulled back, yet again defiantly wiping the tears from his face.

"Because…" I took in his devastated expression one more time, and vowed that I'd never cause him to be so upset ever again.

"Because what?" He was getting impatient, upset as he was, which made me smile. No-one but Matt could manage to do that.

"Because you got the wrong end of the stick, silly." I smiled more as I could see him beginning to hope.

"Which stick?" He wasn't ready to make any guesses yet.

"The one where you proposed, and I ran away." I said, and his mouth opened slightly as he realised exactly what I was saying.

"So… you're not… it wasn't… I mean, you…" He raced through each word, trying to find one that would begin his next sentence.

"Matt, I'm sorry I ran away, I was just… you surprised me, that's all. Shocked me nearly to death to be exact…" I closed my eyes as I told myself again that it _was_ real, that I _was_ about to say yes to him…

"Claire…"

"Matt, ask me again. Please." I didn't want to do any more explaining.

"Ask you…"

"Come on, you know what I mean." I smiled as I could see him regaining some of his confidence. He smiled back at me as if he couldn't believe what was happening, and then he slid off the piano stool and got on one knee, once again taking my hand in both of his.

"Claire… I-" He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and started again. "Claire, I-I love you so much." He bit his lip, trying not to smile as much as he wanted to. "M-marry me?"

I joined him on the floor, and leaned in to gently kiss his quivering lips. When I pulled back I knew we were both in absolute bliss. And then I answered him.

"Yes."


End file.
